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Heidi Garrett-Peltier

Heidi Garrett-Peltier is assistant research professor at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Articles by this author

ViewsMonday, November 12, 2012Don't Drive Off the Fiscal CliffThe U.S. economy is set to go off the so-called “fiscal cliff” at midnight on December 31, 2012. That’s when various tax cuts for people at most income levels will expire. Days later, the federal budget will automatically be cut as the result of an agreement made by both parties last summer, when Congress was in a standoff over the debt ceiling. The deal reached by President Obama and leaders of Congress, called the Budget Control Act of 2011, enabled the federal government to raise its debt ceiling (permitting it to pays its bills) while in turn reducing future budgets.Read more

ViewsFriday, May 11, 2012Don't Buy the Spin: How Cutting the Pentagon's Budget Could Boost the EconomyShould the enormous US military budget—which is more than double the combined levels of military spending by China, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and Germany—be cut? This question is finally on the table, thanks to the winding down of combat activities in Iraq and Afghanistan and to Washington’s obsession with tamping down the federal deficits that have arisen from the Great Recession.Read more

ViewsFriday, March 05, 2010Why Military Keynesianism is NOT the SolutionThe United States is currently preparing to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan by summer 2010. Military contractors, deeply integrated into the U.S. economy, will continue to prosper and profit from increased military spending resulting from this surge of troops. At a time when unemployment in the domestic economy remains near 10%, it may seem convenient to fall back on the principle of military Keynesianism: War is good for the economy.Read more

ViewsFriday, March 14, 2008The Wages of PeaceThere is no longer any doubt that the Iraq War is a moral and strategic disaster for the United States. But what has not yet been fully recognized is that it has also been an economic disaster. To date, the government has spent more than $522 billion on the war, with another $70 billion already allocated for 2008.Read more

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